The price per square foot of a house varies with the house’s size. To reduce the impact of increasing house size over time, the price per square foot was compared for houses above the median size and those below it.
This is expected because kitchens are among the most costly rooms to build, yet nearly all houses have a single kitchen. A bedroom is one of the cheapest rooms to build. Previously, we looked at the cost per square foot for houses with different numbers of bedrooms. It was difficult to make a simple comparison because 2-bedroom houses are typically 20+ years older than 3-bedroom houses.
Most cities show a difference in prices similar to Palo Alto. Atherton shows the least impact from size.
Other cities, such as Hillsborough and Los Altos Hills, which are dominated by luxury homes, show a significantly greater price impact from size.